Native Americans Relive Past At Pow-wow

Grayslake — In an offshoot of the typical family reunion, American Indians from around the country gathered last weekend in a uniquely styled celebration known as the pow-wow.

"A pow-wow is a friendship gathering, where you present the Indian culture to people who are blind to the fact that Indians aren't like the history books say we are," said Wayne Silas, a Menomonee-Oneida Indian who also serves as a board member for the American Indian Center of Chicago, the organization that sponsored the pow-wow.

True to Silas' word, the pow-wow was short on war painted warriors, and instead was steeped in history and tradition.

Held at the Lake County Fairgrounds, the event featured ceremonial dancing, authentic Indian food and numerous crafters. Close to 80 tribes were represented, including the Winnebago Nation and the Sioux, Chippewa and Ojibwas.

As families wandered among the booths, children donned feathered headdresses and played tom-tom drums while adults perused the displays of beaded jewelry, blankets, tapes of Indian music and Indian sweetgrass, a reedlike, braided grass used in making baskets and artwork.

Lines began forming quickly at the food booths as well, which were serving roasted corn, Indian tacos and Indian frybread, a deep-fried biscuit dough. Silas attested to the tastiness of the fry dough prepared by Josephine Fox, but Fox said the only secret to her recipe was practice.

Recounting an old legend, Wolfbear said the dress appeared to a woman in a dream, and when she danced in the dress, several ill children in her township were healed.

The crowning touch of the pow-wow was the naming Sunday of Winnay Wemigwase as the Midwest Regional Indian Princess. Wemigwase, an Odawa Indian from Harbor Springs, Mich., will compete for the Miss Indian World title next year in Albuquerque, N.M.

"We go to every pow-wow we can," Linda Glove said of her Naperville family. "It's my heritage, and we want the children to experience it."

For this particular pow-wow, the Gloves also brought along some friends, hoping to convert them into pow-wow fans.

"We antique with them," Glove said. "We're making them pow-wow with us."